


One After Another: A Burning Question

by ghastly7



Series: One After Another: The Series [4]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, New content in this series?, You know what that means!, oh boy!, sadness!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:07:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24433306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghastly7/pseuds/ghastly7
Summary: Marina comes back home from a really bad day out...Perhaps check out the previous installments in this series before this one? Maybe? No? Okay. I respect your decisions. But I also heavily judge them.
Relationships: Marina/Pearl (Splatoon)
Series: One After Another: The Series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552660
Comments: 66
Kudos: 41





	One After Another: A Burning Question

Marina sighed as she closed the door behind her. "Groceries are here."

Pearl emerged from upstairs, looking oddly cheery. "Thank you, Rina! Let me help you get those."

Marina nodded tiredly as Pearl rushed down the stairs and grabbed the bags from Marina's arms. She looked a little comical, almost completely eclipsed by the bags. Marina would have laughed, but she was a bit too… tired out.

Pearl waddled into the kitchen to drop off the groceries, and Marina took the moment to simply lean against the door and drink in the sensations of home, hoping that it would cancel out the negative feelings she was having. It only helped a small amount.

The octoling examined her arm, particularly a cut on it that was oozing a little bit of green blood. She'd have to get it cleaned out soon to make sure it didn't get infected. She was glad that she had blocked that rock with her arm, though. She wouldn't have liked it if the cut had ended up on her face.

Pearl reemerged from the kitchen still looking bubbly and chipper. Marina was glad that at least  _ she _ seemed to be having a good day.

"Soooo, there was something I wanted to talk to you about," Pearl said, a smile stretching her lips. Then she seemed to take in the general mood that Marina was giving off. "Um… sorry, is everything alright?"

"I…" Marina paused. She thought about lying, but there was really no point in doing so. So she rubbed her eyes and continued. "... I didn't have a very good shopping trip."

"Oh no! What happened?" Pearl said, her cheery attitude replaced with genuine concern.

"... The usual..." Marina said, letting her eyes wander back down to the cut on her arm.

Pearl clearly saw it too, and some venom crept into her voice. "They hurt you?"

"Just a kid throwing some rocks at me. I'm fine," Marina said. "It was… more of a moral wound."

"Was it that same kid from last time? I swear, I am going to get her. She's going to regret throwing those fucking rocks at you all the time," Pearl said.

Marina sighed. "No. This was a new kid. And really, that wasn't the worst thing that happened."

"So something  _ else _ happened too?!" Pearl asked.

"... Yes," Marina said. "I… while I was checking out in the store, some man came up and spat in my face. In my  _ eye _ . It was right in front of both a clerk and a security guard, too, and nobody did anything about it. It was humiliating and… and I just…" and her voice cracked, "I just can't handle how much everyone hates me…"

Seeing that Marina was starting to break down, Pearl led her to the couch in the living room. She got Marina to sit, and then kneeled in front of her.

"Everyone doesn't hate you," Pearl reassured.

"But they do! The moment I was outed as an octoling, everyone in the city decided that I was the scum of the Earth and… I hate it! I hate it so much!"

"Marina, you're right. It's wrong, and-"

Marina jolted up from her seat. "God, I hate how empty this mansion is. Before my secret was revealed we used to have people we paid to be here, but  _ no _ , they can't be seen working for an  _ octoling _ . How horrible  _ that _ would be for their reputations."

"Marina-"

"And the fact that I'm an octoling made us lose our job, our fans… we lost so much. We lost so much, and it's all my fault. I wish I had never been born. Then you wouldn't have to deal with my blast radius." Marina collapsed back down into the couch, let her head fall into her hands, and started bawling.

"Marina no! Don't say that! Never say that!" Pearl said, eyes wide and hands trembling. She held Marina's arms, but the crying octoling was too far lost in her woes to really acknowledge the gesture.

"W-why do I have to b-be this way…" Marina got out through her tears. Everything was coming out. It was as if a cork had been opened on a champagne bottle, and now every problem that she had been repressing was bursting out of her. And she couldn't even stop it.

"Marina, none of this is your fault! None of it! Everyone else is… assholes! It's not you!" Pearl said, moving her hands to Marina's shoulders.

"I hate myself," Marina said. "I hate that I'm an octoling. I hate myself."

"Marina, please!" Pearl said, and now she was crying too. "P-please, no. It hurts so much to see you like this. You- you shouldn't hate yourself. You're an incredible person and I love you so much and… and… you don't deserve this. No one should talk about you like that, especially not you. Marina… you can't  _ do _ this to yourself…"

"Pearl, I… I just can't deal with people anymore. I want to… hide away. I want to shut myself off from everyone and never talk to anyone ever again," Marina said. Her trembling was beginning to subside.

"Marina, I… I wish I could tell you that was possible, but…"

"I know. I know I can't do that. I'm sorry. I'm being irrational, and I realize it. I'm just… so tired of everything."

Pearl wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. "I never realized that this was all hurting you so much. You've been handling it all so well… I thought you were doing fine! I'm sorry I never noticed…"

Marina reached around Pearl's arms in order to wipe her own eyes. "I'm fine now. I think I just needed to get that out of my system."

"Rina… you said some pretty concerning stuff there. Are you…  _ sure _ you're okay?" Pearl asked.

"Yes. I… I think I am. Right now, at least. I promise I will let you know if anything changes," Marina said, finally returning the hug.

They both relished the embrace for a while before a quick kiss, and then they settled back on the couch.

"Sorry I kind of interrupted you earlier," Marina said. "You had something you wanted to talk with me about?"

Pearl seemed to suddenly recall what she had meant to discuss with the octoling, but then an unpleasant expression graced her face. "Er… no, we'll talk about it later. Now's probably not a good time." Pearl's hand ghosted over her pocket, and Marina noticed.

"... Okay…? I suppose I'll take your word for it?" Marina said, a bit perplexed, but mostly just exhausted.

"I'm gonna finish up putting the groceries away, alright?" Pearl said.

"Alright," Marina said, managing a small smile.

The shorter inkling stood from the couch and then tripped over her own feet a little bit. Upon this happening, an object fell out of her pocket and tumbled onto the floor.

"No, no, no!" Pearl pleaded to some unknown god. But if she had meant to hide the object from Marina, it was now too late.

The thing that had fallen out of Pearl's pocket was a small box. It was black, covered in felt, and had a gold-colored hinge and latch.

"Pearl," Marina said, covering her face with her hands. "Is that… what I think it is…?"

Pearl sighed as she picked the box back up. "Well this isn't exactly how I'd  _ planned _ this, but…" She swiveled around to once again face her girlfriend and then kneeled on the floor. "Marina… I love you so much. You mean the world to me. I'd do anything for you, and I'd do anything to be with you. I was wondering… if you'd be my bride?" She opened the box to reveal a ring with a big, beautiful pearl embedded upon it.

And then tears started streaming down Marina's face once again.

"Are those happy tears?" Pearl asked, a hopeful expression on her face.

"Pearl… no… we can't…" Marina sobbed, causing Pearl's expression to sink.

"Why not?" she asked.

"B-because I'm an octoling and... you're not," Marina said.

"So? You don't see Three and Eight giving a shit about that!" Pearl said.

"But Inkopolis does, Pearl! They'll hate you!" Marina said. "Once word gets out about this, people might even start attacking you too!"

"I don't fucking care, Marina. I love you. I'm not letting anyone stop me," Pearl said. She laid the ring aside, stepped forward and took her octoling girlfriend's hands. "If you really don't want this-  _ you _ , not anyone else- then let me know now. I won't fault you. It's your choice. But don't let it be anyone else's choice. Marina… do you really not want to marry me?"

Marina's face betrayed her turmoil. "That's not fair Pearl… I… I  _ do _ want to marry you… but…"

"Then let's do it. Let's get married," Pearl said calmly.

"... The government probably won't legally recognize it," Marina said.

"I know," Pearl said.

"We won't get any of the legal benefits…"

"I know."

"I… I…" Marina struggled against herself. She wanted this so badly, and yet so much of her was terrified. She swallowed down a golfball-sized lump in her throat. "... Yes."

"Yes?" Pearl questioned.

"Yes. I want to be your wife."

Pearl smiled extremely brightly, then dove into an extremely long and passionate kiss with her new fiancée. With their lips locked together, Marina's inhibitions started to melt away. She could picture her and Pearl as an old married couple, sitting looking at the sea from Pearl's favorite beach. Maybe a few little kids running around.

Yeah. Marina wouldn't mind a life like that.

As the kiss finally parted, Pearl was still smiling, and now Marina was, too, despite her wet cheeks. They were both a little out-of-breath.

"Oh, I'm so happy!" Pearl said, looking like she was tempted to start another kiss, but held back so that they could both take a little more time to catch their breath.

"I love you too, Pearl," Marina said. She gently picked the ring out of the box and put it on her finger. "I… I want to make this work. We  _ will _ make this work."

"You know it!" Pearl beamed. "I can't wait to tell the others. Eight, Three, Marie, all of them!"

"Yes…" Marina said. "Pearl, as long as you understand what this could mean for you, then I'm happy too."

Pearl kissed her again. "This is going to be great. I promise."

Marina smiled fondly. Yes. This was going to be great.

* * *

.

.

.

... If only everyone was able to be happy on that day...

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 5th Splooniversary! Have some angst!
> 
> For those of you who follow this series, I'm sure you're wondering how Three and Eight are doing...
> 
> Yep! Thanks for reading!


End file.
